Wheelbarrow



Feb. 28, 1961 E. E. WALL, SR

WHEELBARROW 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 21, 1960 J lb.

INVENTOR EDWARD E. WALL, SR.

Feb. 28, 1961 E. E. WALL, SR

WHEELBARROW 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 21, 1960 INVENTOR EDWARD E. WALL, SR.

the front end of the body at both of its WHEELBARROW Edward E. Wall, Sin, 5826 Robinson Ave, PA 301x806, Arlington, Calif.

Filed Mar. 21, 1960, Sen. No. 16,275

12 Claims. (Cl. 298-3) The object of this invention is to produce a wheelbarrow safer, lighter, and easier to roll and dump, more useful and convenient to operatespecially because of the drop-frame, body suspension system and brake features, and at the same time to reduce strain and backbreaking work, besides saving labor and cost in its production.

In the drawings:

Figure 1a is a side view of my wheelbarrow with the dump position of the body being shown in phantom lines;

Figure lb is a rear view of my wheelbarrow;

Figure 1c is a front view of my wheelbarrow;

Figure 2a is a perspective view of the wheelbarrow drop frame;

Figure 2b shows a coupling bracket on the back end of the Wheelbarrow body;

Figure 2c illustrates a lever handle of my wheelbarrow when lying on the drop frame;

Figure 2d shows in part the lever handle in dumping position;

Figure 28 is a detailed partial side view of a brake shoe of my wheelbarrow; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the brake shoe of my wheelbarrow.

The body 1 of my wheelbarrow with its parts can be cast in one piece. The front of the body extends upward from the bottom to the top edge, the top six inches or so curving slightly forward into a lip. As shown the top edges of the sides slope in straight parallel lines from front to back. The bottom rests on the drop-frame 3 and lever handles 5 and the body is flush on the bottom. As part of the body there are two inverted triangular brackets 28, spaced from the ends of the back of the drop-frame and the vertical inner edges of the back of the body. These brackets are along the back of the body with a base extending back perpendicular to the back of the body. Hence the hypotenuse of this right triangular bracket extends diagonally downward to its inverted apex to the line of juncture of the back and bottom of the body, which is also the line of contact of the back edge of the bottom and the top edge of the back end of the drop-frame, and are parts of the coupling unit of body and frame. On vertical edges there are sockets 9 which form a ball and socket joint with the ball (not shown) on upper ends of the dumparms 4 which are supporting means for body 1. The outer circumference or bottom of each socket extends to its respective vertical edge of the front of the body, and below its top edge. The sockets permit the free rotation of the dump-arms balls of the joint. At the lower edge of the back of the body near each vertical edge there is an eye 13. The hole of the eye is elliptical. and loosely holds or surrounds the lever-handles.

The drop-frame 3, a parellelogram in shape, for instance cast in one piece, is a radical departure from and a distinct improvement in the ordinary Wheelbarrow. The parallel sides are L shaped and the ends are inverted L shaped. Each of the sides is solid in the forward part 2,973,224 Patented Feb. 28, 1961 of their length beginning at their front ends with a cleft 8 in their front ends, for the dump-arms tongues. These tongues operate in a ball bearing joint (not shown) in the clefts. On the surface of the drop-frame sides beginning back of the lever-handles holes 60 and extending along the surface, there are cross grooves 24. The back of the groove is perpendicular to the surface of the drop-frame side and the front edge slopes down to its open edge extending below the bottom of the drop-frame sides. The lower edges are open to prevent obstruction of the grooves and fouling of the cog 20a of the brake shoe 2%.

Grooves 24 are to receive the cog 0n the back end of each brake shoe 2i). The back end 26 of the dropframe is an inverted L in shape. Spaced from either end of the back of the drop-frame there are two supports 18 for pawls 16. There are holes through the supports for bolts or pins 18 about which the pawls rotate. Under each end of the back of the drop-frame there is a leg 12. The upper end of the leg of the same dimensions as the lower end, extends above the horizontal part of the dropframe and is flared slightly outward, as a body guide. The front end of the drop-frame is the same as the back end-an inverted L in shapebut is extended and projects downward in two wheel supports id. These supports have a hole through them for the wheel shaft 6. Each support is spaced from either end of the front of the dropframe, with a wheel space between them for wheel 2. The front ends of the drop-frame sides extend beyond the front of the drop-frame the same distance and at the same angle as the Wheel supports with corresponding holes through them for the wheel shaft. These wheel supports extend back into the cross-brace 26a parallel to the front of the drop-frame, to strengthen the wheel supports. There is a hole through the drop-frame sides spaced from their back ends for the lever-handle shaft 11. There is a brace 27 between the sides and spaced from the front end.

The lever-handles 5, for pushing, dumping, and otherwise using the wheelbarrow are fitted to the drop-frame on either side of the body. Their back ends are round and tubular. From their front ends they are joined to the vertical parts of the drop-frame sides by the leverhandles shaft 11, the hole 60 in the lever-handle head permitting the free rotation of the lever-handles. A ball bearing ring, not shown, is countersunk in the outer sides of the lever-handles heads in recesses. The round part of the lever-handles, beginning at its juncture with the square part, curves upward and clear of the back of the body, where it makes another identical curve, and extends straight back in a line generally perpendicular to the back of the body. When the body is coupled to the dropframe, the lever-handles lie on the surface of the horizontal part of the drop-frame side, and extend up to the top edge of the vertical part of the drop-frameside'. The body bottom rests flush on top of the lever-handles and the top edge of the vertical drop-frame sides. Back from its front end there is a slot 50 through the lever.- handles. The slot permits the free rotation of the brake bar 19 and shoe 2% in the slot, on a pin 25 through the lever-handles and the front end of the brake bar. Before attaching the lever-handles they are runthrough the elliptical eyes 13 of the back of the body.

The dump-arms 4- are a new feature both in their application and operation. They consist of two main pieces of one part in two connected bars or arms. Their upper ends are balls on short stems of the dump-arms, and their lower ends are thick tongues to fit and rotate in the clefts in the ends of the drop-frame sides. When-in place they extend diagonally downward from the socketsv on the front end of the body to the clefts in the ends of the drop-frame sides. At their intersection they are mortised and rigidly U-bolted together at It with the surfaces of each in continuous straight lines. They are fitted into the sockets and clefts before being bolted together. There are holes through the tongues for the shaft 6, with clearance between the tongue and the shaft, for free rotation of the dump-arms.

1 The brakes are attached to and operated by the leverhandles. The lower end of each brake or supporting bar 19 is fitted with a brake shoe 20, the back end of which is a cog 20a extending below the lower edge and back end of the shoe to fit into the grooves in the drop- 1 frame sides to provide means for holding the lever arms '5 in raised position. Along each outer edge of the top of the shoe there is a flange 22. The flange is semicircular. In the center of the flanges there are corresponding holes through the flanges and brake bar for a pin 23 providing for the rotation of the shoe, and the bar between the flanges. Each of the arched flanges has a shoulder 31 to fit the deep curved cut on either side in the lower end of the brake bar, thus the edges of the cuts fit flush against the shoulders of the flanges with a clearance between the bar and the flanges. In the lower end of the brake bar and its edges there is a groove -32 equidistant from its sides for a flat spring 33 fastened in the groove on the back edge of the brake bar at 34. There is a groove 36 in the top of the shoe beginning from the front end of the shoe. There is a bar 29, between the top edges of this groove, in front of the front end of the flange base, to hold the spring under the cross bar and in the groove, as the sprnig slides back and forth in the groove, when the lever-handles and brake bars are in operation. The front end of the brake shoe is beveled to facilitate the movement of the shoe over the grooves in the drop-frame sides.

The body and drop-frame are automatically coupled together by two triangular brackets 28 on the back of the body and two pawls 16 attached to the back end of the drop-frame. The lower ends of the pawls merge into a coupling bar and these parts form means for re- 'leasably latching body 1 in resting position on the frame member 3. The pawls and coupling bar can be cast in one piece. There is a right triangular cut in the face, or front edge, of the pawls so when the coupling of the body and drop-frame is completed this hypotenuse fits flush against the hypotenuse of the bracket on the back of the body. The coupling bar parallels the back end of the drop-frame. The back edge of the pawl extends diagonally downward in a straight line to its bottom end and to the top of the front edge of the coupling bar. There are two thick flat springs 51, passing under and against the lower edge of the back end of the drop-frame and are secured to its inner side. The bottom ends of the pawls and ends of the coupling bar rest on the springs. The function of the springs is to operate the coupling of the body and drop-frame, by use of the coupling bar pedal 17 midway the bar. Thus when unloading the wheelbarrow the operator steps on pedal 17 to uncouple the body and drop-frame. Upon raising handles 5 the body and its load is uniquely suspended by the dump-arms 4 and handles 5 as the body moves to the position shown in phantom in Figure la.

a This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 650,767, filed April 4, 1957 now abandoned.

I claim:

1. A wheelbarrow which comprises a generally horizontal frame member, ground wheel means mounted in the forward portion of said frame member, 'a load holding body, means for releasably latching said'body in resting position on said frame member, supporting means extending from the forward portion of said frame member upwardly and rearwardly to said body in said resting position, said Supporting means being pivotally attached to said frame member and to said body, lever arm means pivotally attached at their forward portion to each side of said frame member, said lever arm means underlying their respective sides of said. body in i Testing P 4 tion, said lever arm means extending rearwardly behind said body in said resting position, and means loosely attaching the rear portion of said body to said lever armmeans to permit the dumping of a load from the body onto the ground in front of said ground wheel means by releasing said releasable latching means and raising the lever arm means.

2. The wheelbarrow of claim 1 in which said supporting means extend from each side of said wheel means to the opposite side of said body.

3. The wheelbarrow of claim 1 in which means are provided for lockingly holding said lever arm means in raised position.

4. The wheelbarrow of claim 1 in which the supporting means extend from each side of said wheel means near the edges of said frame member to near the edges of said body.

5.- A wheelbarrow which comprises a generally horizontal frame member, ground wheel means mounted in the forward portion of said frame member, a load holding body, means for releasably latching said body in resting position on said frame member, supporting means extending from the forward portion of said frame member upwardly and rearwardly to said body in said resting position, said supporting means being pivotally attached to said frame member and said body, a lever arm pivotally attached at its forward portion to each side of said frame member, said lever arms underlying their respective sides of said body in said resting position, said lever arms extending rearwardly behind said body in said resting position, means attaching said body to the respective lever arms, said last named means loosely surrounding said lever arms to permit the dumping of a load from the body onto the ground in front of said ground wheel means by releasing said releasable latching means and raising the lever arms, means for holding said lever arms in raised position, said holding means comprising a supporting bar for each of said lever arms, said supporting bars having their forward portions pivotally attached to their respective lever arms and adapted to underlie said body in said resting position, and means at the rear portion of each of said supporting bars for lockingly engaging said frame member when said lever arms are raised.

6. The wheelbarrow of claim 5 in which said locking engaging means are shoe members pivotally attached to the rear portions of their respective supporting bars, spring means attached to each of said supporting bars and shoe members for biasing said shoe away from locking position.

7. The wheelbarrow of claim 5 in which the supporting means extend from each side of said wheel means near the Edges of said frame member to near the edges of said ody.

8. A wheelbarrow which comprises a generally horizontal frame member, ground wheel means mounted in the forward portion of said frame member, a load holding body, means for releasably latching said body in resting position on said frame member, supporting means extending from the forward portion of said frame member upwardly and rearwardly to said body in said resting position, said supporting means being pivotally attached to said frame member and to said body, lever arm means pivotally attached at their forward portion to each side of said frame member, said lever arm means being positioned to move said body towards the dumping position by raising said lever arm means, said lever arm means extending rearwardly behind said body in said resting position, and means loosely attaching the rear portion of said body to said lever arm. means to permit the dumping of a load from the body' onto the ground in front or" said ground wheel means by releasing said releasable latching means and raising the lever arm means.

9. A wheelbarrow which comprises a generally horizontal frame member, ground wheel means mounted in the forward portion of said frame member, a load holding body, means for releasably latching said body in resting position on said frame member, supporting means extending from the forward portion of said frame member upwardly and rearwardly to said body in said resting position, said supporting means being pivotally attached to said frame member and to said body, lever arm means pivotally attached at their forward portion to each side of said frame member at a point along the body, said lever arm means being positioned to move said body towards the dumping position by raising said lever .arm means, said lever arm means extending rearwardly behind said body in said resting position, and means loosely attaching the rear portion of said body to said lever arm means to permit the dumping of a load from the body onto the ground in front of said ground wheel means by releasing said releasable latching means and raising the lever arm means.

10. A wheelbarrow which comprises a generally horizontal frame member, ground wheel means mounted in the forward portion of said frame member, a load holding body, means for releasably latching said body in resting position on said frame member, supporting means extending from the forward portion of said frame member upwardly and rearwardly to said body in said resting position, said supporting means being pivotally attached to said frame member and to said body, lever arm means pivotally attached at their forward portion to each side of said frame member at a position underlying the mid-portion of the body, said lever arm means underlying their respective sides of said body in said resting position, said lever arm means extending rearwardly behind said body in said resting position, and means loosely attaching the rear portion of said body to said lever arm means to permit the dumping of a load from the body onto the ground in front of said ground wheel means by releasing said releasable latching means and raising the lever arm means.

11. A wheelbarrow which comprises a generally horizontal frame member, ground wheel means mounted in the forward portion of said frame member, a load holding body, means for releasably latching said body in resting position on said frame member, supporting means extending from each side of said wheel means near the edges of said frame member to near the edges of said body, said supporting means being pivotally attached to said frame member and to said body, lever arm means pivotally attached at their forward portion to each side of said frame member at a position underlying the mid-portion of the body, said lever arm means underlying their respective sides of said body in said resting position, said lever arm means extending rearwardly behind said body in said resting position, means loosely attaching the rear portion of said body to said lever arm means to permit the dumping of a load from the body onto the ground in front of said ground wheel means by releasing said releasable latching means and raising the lever arm means, and

means for lockingly holding said lever arm means in raised position.

12. A wheelbarrow which comprises a generally horizontal frame member, ground wheel means mounted in the forward portion of said frame member, a load holding body, means for releasably latching said body in resting position on said frame member, supporting means extending from each side of the forward portion of said frame member upwardly and rearwardly to each side of said body in said resting position, said supporting means being pivotally attached to said frame member and said body, a lever arm pivotally attached at its forward portion to each side of said frame member at a point underlying the middle portion or" said body, said lever arms underlying their respective sides of said body in said resting position, said lever arms extending upwardly and then rearwardly behind said body in said resting position, means attaching said body to the upwardly extending portion of the respective lever arms, said last named means loosely surrounding said upwardly extending portion and spaced upwardly from the bottom of said body when in said resting position to permit the dumping of a load from the body onto the ground in front of said ground wheel means by releasing saidreleasable latching means and raising the lever arms, means for holding said lever arms in raised position, said holding means comprising a supporting bar for each of said lever arms, said supporting bars having their forward portions pivotally attached to their respective lever arms and adapted to underlie said body in said resting position, and means at the rear portion of each of said supporting bars for lockingly engaging said frame member when said lever arms are raised.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 474,360 Brack May 10, 1892 492,562 Senderling Feb. 28, 1893 524,917 Taufflieb et a1. Aug. 21, 1894 611,613 Doty et al. Oct. 4, 1898 818,529 Edick Apr. 24, 1906 926,467 Brown June 29, 1909 1,032,009 Long July 9, 1912 1,261,532 Hoe Apr. 2, 1918 1,497,478 Bludworth June 10, 1924 1,590,000 Trowe June 22, 1926 2,037,222 Farrar Apr. 14, 1936 2,247,083 Garlinghouse June 24, 1941 2,544,505 Kronhaus Mar. 6, 1951 2,852,304 Harrison Sept. 16, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,612/35 Australia July 2, 1936 442,611 France June 12, 1912 13,708 Great Britain Feb. 12, 1889 of 1888 

